Ingles 2

(ESPM) Texto para as questões de 01 a 10

Catching the Corrupt Chen Shui-bian reopens a political murder case

1. The gold silk blouse and earrings are signs that Li Mei-kuei is finally coming
out of mourning. Seven years ago her husband’s bloated corpse washed ashore
in the northern Taiwanese fishing port of Suao. Capt. Yin Ching-feng had been
the chief naval officer overseeing Taiwan’s purchases of foreign weapons, including
six French Lafayette frigates that cost $ 2.7 billion. At first the Navy insisted
he had drowned. But an outside autopsy showed he was bludgeoned to death. Li,
his 49 year-old widow, insists he was murdered for uncovering a corruption ring
within the military. But the Kuomintang regime, which was closely tied to the
military, never cracked the case. Earlier this month Chen Shui-bian, the first
opposition president in Taiwan’s history, vowed to reopen the investigation.
“I had given up all hope,” says Li, “but now a ray of light has been shown in.”

2. Chen wants to illuminate a half-century of darkness. Despite emerging as
one of Asia’s few true democracies, Taiwan has been unable to rid itself of
a legacy of corruption. Vote buying, insider trading, bribes and kickbacks in
the private sector and the government became part of the fabric of society under
the Kuomintang, which ruled Taiwan for 50 years. Fed up with “black-money politics”,
the Taiwanese voted in March for Chen, who promised to clean up society. Chen
has launched a major campaign against political corruption, the first in Taiwan,
with indictments of two legislators, investigations of several public officials
and the high profile Yin case. Symbolically, he is taking on the Kuomintang’s
entire legacy. “Even if this case shakes the nation to its very foundations,”
Chen said in mid-August, “it must still be solved, no matter how high it may
go.”

3. The blame could reach right to the top. Former president Lee Teng-hui, the
first native-born president, fought for greater democracy. But as he consolidated
his power against mainland-born hardliners, he cultivated close ties with local
factions and shady businessmen. During his tenure the local media uncovered
hundreds of corruption cases. Finance committees in the legislature became dominated
by men with criminal records.

Some crusaders want to include the entire party, of which Lee was chairman,
in a witch-hunt. Chen Ding-nan, Chen’s new Justice minister, seems ready to
purge everyone. “The Kuomintang government,” he says, “was just a group of [criminal]
accomplices that included government officials, large enterprises and gangsters.”

4. Taiwan’s boisterous press is re-examining clues in Captain Yin’s murder.
Li is convinced that her husband’s death was related to the purchase of the
French frigates. She says that shortly before his murder, Yin returned from
a trip to France and told her he had learned of some defects with the ships’
design. One of his co-workers in the military’s procurement department was later
convicted for taking bribes; other suspects fled overseas. Military officers
warn direly of “chaos” if Chen proceeds with the case. “If all those involved
were prosecuted, Taiwan’s national-security forces would to the naval procurement
process told NEWS-WEEK.

5. Corrupt lawmakers can no longer hide behind legislative immunity. Taking
advantage of a legal loophole, prosecutor searched an office used by Liao Hwu-peng,
a Kuomintang legislator. Liao is suspected of obtaining false stocks. Last week
prosecutors searched another office used by Gary Wang, a Kuomintang legislator
suspected of involvement in a $ 32 million land-fraud deal. Prosecutors indicted
the mayor of southern Tainan, a member of alleged corruption involving the construction
of a canal. All three insist they are innocent.

6. Chen may feel a sense of personal mission to solve the case of Captain Yin.
As a leader of the opposition under the Kuomintang, he was repeatedly exposed
to the violence inflicted on its opponents. He has pledged to reopen the case
of the mother and daughters of Lin Yi-hsiung, a fellow opposition leader, who
were murdered in their sleep in 1980. Chen’s own wife was run down and paralysed
in 1985 – another unsolved case. For Chen, solving the murder of Yin has symbolic
importance. “Perhaps it was the spirit of Captain Yin Ching-feng in heaven that
helped me get into the presidential office,” he says. Widow Li may see justice
yet.

Vocabulary:

*to catch:

pegar, apanhar

*political murder case:

caso de assassinato político

*gold silk blouse:

blusa de seda dourada

*earrings:

brincos

*to come out of mourning:

deixar o luto

*bloated corpse:

cadáver inchado

*to wash ashore:

aparecer na praia

*northern:

ao norte

*fishing port:

porto pesqueiro

*purchases:

compras, aquisições

*to oversee:

inspecionar

*foreign weapons:

armas estrangeiras

*at first:

a princípio

*navy:

marinha

*to drown:

afogar-se

* to bludgeon:

espancar

*widow:

viúva

*to uncover:

revelar, descobrir

*corruption ring:

rede de corrupção

*closely tied of:

bem ligado a

*to crack the case:

descobrir, desvendar o caso

*to vow:

prometer

*to give up:

desistir

*a ray of light:

um raio de luz

*a half century of darkness:

meio século de escuridão

*despite:

apesar de

*unable:

incapaz

*to rid of:

livrar-se de

*vote-buying:

compra de votos

*insider trading:

negócios ilícitos

*bribes:

subornos

*kickback:

propina

*fabric:

estrutura, sistema

*under:

sob o regime de

*to rule:

governar, administrar

*fed up:

cansado de

*back-money politics:

política de dinheiro sujo

*to voter for:

votar a favor de

*to clean up society:

limpar a sociedade

*to launch:

lançar

*a major campaign:

uma grande campanha

*indictments:

acusações

*officials:

autoridades

*high-profile:

notável, de destaque

*to take on:

assumir

*entire legacy:

todo o legado

*to shake:

balançar, mexer

*no matter how high:

não importa até onde

*blame:

culpa

*former:

ex

*to fight for:

lutar por

*hardliners:

radicais

*close ties:

laços íntimos

*shady businessmen:

homens de negócios suspeitos

*tenure:

mandato

*local media:

mídia local

*criminal records:

fichas criminais

*entire party:

o partido todo

*chairman:

presidente

*a witch hunt:

caça às bruxas

*to purge:

expulsar

*accomplices:

cúmplices

*enterprises:

empresas

*boisterous press:

imprensa sensacionalista

*clues:

pistas

*shortly before:

pouco antes

*to learn of:

ficar sabendo de

*frigates:

fragatas

*co-workers:

colaboradores

*to be convicted for:

ser condenado por

*to flee (fled – fled) overseas:

fugir para o exterior

*to warn:

alertar

*direly:

terrivelmente, horrivelmente

*to proceed:

prosseguir, continuar

*to be prosecuted:

ser levado a julgamento

*to throw – threw – throw:

jogar, lançar

*source:

fonte

*close to:

próximo a

*lawmakers:

legisladores

*no longer:

não mais

*to hide – hid – hidden:

esconder, ocultar

*to take advantage of:

aproveitar

*a legal loophole of:

uma brecha legal

*prosecutors:

promotores

*to search:

procurar

*false stocks:

ações falsas

*deal:

negócio

*to indict:

indicar, processar

*mayor:

prefeito

*southern:

ao sul

*alleged:

suposto

*repeatedly:

repetidamente

*to unflict:

impor

*to pledge:

implorar

*to run down:

atropelar

01. According to the information in the article, Yin Ching-feng:

(A) Was killed by fellow naval officers.

(B) Was drowned by members of Taiwan’s Kuomintang regime.

(C) Was part of a corruption scandal involving more than US$2 billions in bribes.

(D) Was beaten to death.

(E) Had proof that senior Taiwanese military officers were involved in corruption.

02. In paragraph 2, the sentence “Chen wants to illuminate a half
century of darkness” means most approximately the same as which of the
following?

(A) Taiwan’s current president hopes to expose 50 years of nationwide corruption.

(B) Taiwan’s current president is intent on finding the murderers of Yin
Ching-feng.

(C) Taiwan’s current president hopes that for the next 50 years Taiwanese
politics will be open and honest.